AS3 Face Up
by Denise Felt
Summary: Commander Straker finds himself between a rock and a hard place when his new wife is found to be involved in another UFO incident.


**3. Face Up**

**(A UFO Story)**

by Denise Felt 2010

**Chapter 1 **

"Wow! You look awesome!"

Straker flushed slightly and said, "So do you, if I may say so. Fuchsia is definitely your color."

Shannon preened, giving him a sassy curtsey as she came over to put on her Gerbera daisy wrist corsage. "Mom wanted a color that would look good on both me and Charlene."

"I thought she let you choose the dress?"

"She did. But she'd narrowed it down to teal and fuchsia by then."

"I see," he said as he fastened on his boutonniere. "Well, you probably looked great in both those colors. What made you pick this one?"

She shrugged, but was secretly pleased that he wanted to know. "I liked the style of this dress better. It was less cluttered than the teal one."

"Clean lines."

"Yeah!" She grinned at him. "That's what Mom said." She peeked through the doorway into the chapel. "Charlene sure seems to like Alec. She's talking a mile a minute to him."

Straker chuckled, giving her a wink. "All the girls like Alec. Some of them have even been known to offer him an orange fizzy."

Shannon blushed adorably. "He said he was thirsty!" she said in her defense.

"Well, I'll have you know I'm a little jealous."

She looked surprised. "You are?"

He nodded and said seriously, "Oh, yes. You haven't offered to get me an orange fizzy while I'm working."

She grinned, knowing he was teasing her. "Would you drink it if I did?"

Straker laughed and shook his head. "You have me there. Actually, I think Alec was very flattered that you offered."

"He's really nice. And he treats me like I'm a grown-up."

"That's always a plus," he agreed. Straker had been surprised to see how swiftly Shannon had wound his best friend around her finger. He didn't think he'd ever seen Alec so taken with any female. If Shannon were older, he'd have been worried. As it was, Alec had already begged her to call him uncle. She hadn't yet. Straker was aware that she had her mother's cautious nature. But he also knew that sooner or later, she'd come to accept the new 'family' she was becoming a part of at the studio. She had too outgoing a personality not to do so.

She'd been ecstatic when he'd shown her around the sets, especially Soundstage B where her favorite show was filmed. He'd introduced her to the director, one of SHADO's senior computer technicians who also enjoyed making television programs. Shannon got on famously with Major Cochran, who had eventually pulled Straker aside and asked if she might be interested in working as part of his crew. He'd been impressed by her questions and wanted to encourage her. Straker too had found her conversation enlightening, so after a chat with Cait, he'd given Cochran the go-ahead to approach her. Shannon had been thrilled! Although she was too young to get wages, as family she was allowed to help out for an allowance. And since her future stepfather gave a very generous allowance, she was already making plans to spend her new fortune on an extensive shopping spree that would surely wear out anyone over the age of thirty. He felt sorry for Cait, who would almost certainly get roped into going, and could only hope that he wouldn't be required to come along. He didn't think he had the stamina for it.

Mr. Kerr came out of the vicar's office, where Cait and her mother were dealing with the finishing touches for her wedding dress. Shannon helped her grandfather put on his boutonniere, chatting amiably while he and Straker exchanged wry smiles. This might be the second marriage for his daughter, but Straker could easily see that Mr. Kerr was as nervous as if he'd never walked Cait down an aisle before.

Straker could sympathize. He was just as nervous, even though this wasn't the first time down an aisle for him either. Churches gave him an itch between the shoulder blades. He always felt watched whenever he was forced to enter one, as if an unseen presence was measuring him – and found him wanting. He had to keep reminding himself that this was for Cait.

And it would be over soon.

Indeed, it wasn't long before he was standing before the vicar and watching his bride walk down the aisle toward him on her father's arm. Cait wore the antique lace wedding gown that her grandmother had worn at her wedding around the turn of the century. Its off-the-shoulder styling framed her lovely neck and face while the tailored bodice hugged her figure. The skirt belled out at the knees into a full circle of lace complete with demi-train. It was a gorgeous work of art that spoke of a more peaceful era. Cait looked stunning in it, and Straker couldn't take his eyes off her.

She had asked him what style of suit he preferred for the wedding, but he'd told her he would be comfortable in nearly any suit as long as it was well-made. So she'd talked with his tailor, and between them they had come up with a slim tuxedo suit in two-toned black silk. Straker wore it with a high-collared white shirt and narrow black bowtie. Cait thought he looked devastatingly handsome as he stood at the altar next to his friend Alec. The cut of the suit emphasized his lean beauty while the starkness of its coloring made his blue eyes seem even more luminous than usual. She wondered that her knees didn't give out on her as she approached him, and was grateful for her father's support down the aisle. She handed her bouquet of Gerbera daisies to Shannon to hold during the ceremony, exchanging grins with her daughter, who was greatly enjoying being a junior bridesmaid. Then she took the hand of her groom and met his eyes, happier than she could ever remember being and still quite amazed to find herself marrying such a wonderful man.

The man of her dreams.

Cait danced more at the reception than she had danced in years. First her father waltzed her around the floor, which almost made her cry. Her parents had always been there for her, even when she had come to their home all those years ago and told them she was pregnant. There'd been no recriminations, no horrible scenes. Her mother had simply asked her how she was feeling, and her father had promised to make a baby cradle.

She hoped she would be the same support for her daughter through the years. Seamus had never seemed to want to spend much time with his daughter, but then he was still a child himself in so many ways. But Ed had shown right from the start that he liked Shannon and wanted to be a part of her life. Even before he'd proposed, he'd been kind to her, letting her talk him into going to her English class to speak about Shakespeare. As he cut in on the next waltz, smoothly receiving her from her father's arms, she thanked God that she'd married a man who had a heart big enough to include another man's daughter in his life.

Later, Antoine danced with her, fresh tears in his eyes as he told her how beautiful she and her husband had looked during the ceremony. He'd gone through two hankies at the church and had borrowed a third from Cait's mother, who had come well-stocked for the occasion. Once he stopped weeping, he wanted to know who the gorgeous lady was who had come with the best man? Cait told him her name was Nina, and that she and Ed had been friends for many years.

"_Friends_ friends?" Antoine had demanded, looking a bit fierce for a minute.

Cait shook her head. "No. They're close, Antoine, but not that way. It's a different dynamic. I can't really put my finger on just what that dynamic involves, but it's not really important. They're friends. And I'm glad she came to wish him happy."

"Well, you're a sweetie, Cait, so of course you would be nice."

"Not at all," she assured him with a grin. "Actually I'm amazed that he wants me when he has someone as beautiful as that hanging around."

"She may be beautiful, sugar, but you're one-of-a-kind. And your man's smart enough to know what's more important. I'd warn him to take good care of you, but he looks so besotted, I don't think you have to worry about a thing!"

Her grin widened. "He's not the only one!"

"Girl, you two are a pair!" he exclaimed. "What do you think? Would Ed's friend Alec find me interesting?"

Cait put her tongue between her teeth as she glanced at the best man across the room. "He looks like he's adventurous. Go for it!"

Straker and Cait honeymooned in Paris, spending whatever time they found themselves away from the privacy of their large hotel suite at the Louvre. They had lively debates on the merits of Renoir over Rubens, but found themselves in total agreement when it came to Dali over Picasso. They held hands and kissed in convenient corners when they found themselves momentarily alone in the galleries and otherwise behaved as though they were the only two people on earth.

Shannon joined them on their final few days, and they treated her to a trip to the palace at Versailles and the Eiffel Tower. On their last afternoon, Straker stayed behind to get things ready for their trip home while Cait and Shannon went shopping along the _Champs-Elysees_. Shannon bought him an Eiffel Tower t-shirt that he accepted with a smile, but later he gave his wife a pained look when she told him he'd look cute in it. Cait just giggled, daring him to wear it to work sometime just to hear the comments that would be made. At which he grinned – and actually considered the possibility for a moment.

When he entered his studio outer office the next day, he found his second-in-command flirting with Miss Ealand, who in her usual calm way kept working, unmoved by his blandishments.

"One of these days, she's going to haul off and cold-cock you, Alec," he warned his friend with a grin. "Then what will you do?"

Alec laughed and grabbed her hand, kissing it loudly before saying, "I'll ask her to marry me, of course. A man wants a wife with a strong right cross." Then he stood up and took a good look at his friend. "Well! Who are you, and what have you done with our leader?"

Straker's grin widened as he accepted the mail his secretary handed him. "Cut it out," he said as he went into his office and sat behind his desk.

Col. Freeman followed him and took the seat in front of the desk. After staring at his friend for a moment, he said, "Marriage seems to agree with you, Ed. At least for now. Don't know when I've seen you so relaxed."

The commander flushed slightly. "It's been a while, I guess. Cait makes me happy."

Alec thought back to the wedding and reception two weeks before. "Giddy's more like it."

Straker grinned. "That too." He reached over and flipped up the lid of his silver cigar case. "Straker," he said.

Freeman would have sworn that the voiceprint identifier hesitated before accepting the commander's voice. He was certain the box had never before heard him sound so carefree.

As the room descended into HQ, Alec sat back and said, "I guess I don't need to ask if the honeymoon went well. It's written all over your face. What did Shannon think of Paris?"

Straker chuckled. "She's decided she wants to live there when she graduates from school. Get a flat overlooking the Seine, have a few lovers, and write poetry, which seems to be her current hobby of choice."

Alec choked on a laugh. "Worried?"

"No. Now if she still talks that way when she's eighteen, I may have a few sleepless nights. But at twelve?" He shrugged. "Let her dream."

"You're a good father."

The commander sighed as the room stopped. He rose from his chair and walked with his friend out of the office and into the corridors of HQ. "I'm trying to be, Alec. She certainly deserves more than what she had."

"Ed, you can't blame yourself for that. You didn't know."

"That's hardly an excuse," Straker said tersely. "How stupid do you think I feel for not once considering such a possibility?"

Freeman shook his head. "You know, Ed. You should cut yourself some slack every once in a while. So you didn't think of everything. So you're not perfect. You're the only one who expects you to be, you know."

Straker said nothing more until they were in his office. Then he sat behind his desk and pushed the button to close the door. As Alec went to the drink cabinet to get himself a whiskey, Straker said quietly, "You've seen what a wonderful girl she is. Any man would be proud to be her father. And I'll never be able to claim her."

The colonel sat down in front of the desk with a sigh. "I know, Ed. But at least you get to be her stepfather. Surely that means something?"

"It's more than I expected to have, at any rate," admitted his friend.

"And Cait?" Alec persevered. "Surely she's happy that you want to take care of her daughter?"

"Yes." Straker brooded for a while, then shook himself out of it with a wry smile. "Listen to me, complaining because I want more than what I have! Hell, I already have more than I've ever dreamed of having! A wife who is wise and beautiful. A daughter who thinks I'm cool. Pretty sad not to be content with that, isn't it?"

"It'll always chafe at you, Ed," his friend said softly.

"I know. I need to find some way of coming to terms with it. I knew when I married Cait that there would be times when things wouldn't sit easy. I've accepted that. I need to just be happy that she even married me!"

Alec grinned. "Was there any doubt?"

Straker chuckled. "Hell, yes! She thought I was some playboy producer at first."

The colonel snickered.

The commander looked at the pile of reports in his inbox. "How has it been while I was gone, Alec? Any crises?"

"None," his friend said as he sipped his drink. "I guess the aliens decided to go on holiday too, since you were out of town. It's been as quiet as a church here. Ford and I have been playing poker to pass the time."

"Who won?"

Alec grinned. "It was pretty even actually. I'm the better player, but he has the devil's own luck."

"I'd feel better if we'd found whatever it was they wanted in Scotland."

"We may never know, Ed. Hell, they've been targeting North Dakota for years!"

"Yes, but the latest studies show that the mountains there are rich in a few of the metals they use to build their ships. It makes sense for them to go there. But Scotland? What good is a lake to them other than to hide in?"

Alec frowned. "Didn't you have them take samples from those standing stones you visited, just in case they might be the reason they targeted the area?"

"Yes. But Col. Lake called while I was in Paris. The research team found nothing unusual in the composition of the stones. Nothing that might attract the aliens' attention."

"Ginny called you in Paris?"

"Yes. Why?"

Alec shook his head. Virginia had not been pleased to hear that their commander was marrying a civilian. And especially one who was considered high risk because of her involvement in a prior UFO incident. She'd ranted to him for over an hour about it. He'd finally shut her down by saying that it wasn't their place to dictate the commander's actions. Then he'd finished by asking her if she wanted a repeat of the fiasco they'd dealt with the month before, when the commander had suffered a meltdown?

Whatever dangers they would face by having their commanding officer married to a possible security risk were nothing compared to the dangers they faced if he didn't marry her. It was obvious to Alec, at least, that his friend had reached the end of what he could endure alone. He needed companionship – even if just for the release of sex. But thankfully, Cait was giving him much more than that. Ed was happy. He was relaxed. So as far as Alec was concerned, any risk she presented was negligible in comparison.

He hadn't called Straker once during his honeymoon, and in fact, had been grateful that the need to do so had not presented itself. But trust Ginny to consider her findings of more importance than the commander's time with his new wife.

"At least the incursions have stopped," he said.

"Yes," Straker said with a sigh. "I suppose that will have to be enough – for now."

**Chapter 2 **

Col. Foster was working the night shift at HQ when the alert came. He headed out of Straker's office and into the Control room, coming over to Ford's station and looking at the radar as the lieutenant gave him the details.

"Two UFOs, sir. Coming in fast."

Foster nodded. "Right. Get me Moonbase."

When the monitor came on, he said to Lt. Ellis at her console in the Command Sphere, "Gay, launch interceptors."

"Yes, sir," she answered before switching off and turning to her microphone to say, "Interceptors, immediate launch! Immediate launch!"

Mere seconds later, the women in the Command Sphere felt the rumbling vibrations that signaled the take-off of Moonbase's three interceptors from their pads.

Straker woke and blinked in the dark. He turned to his wife to find her sitting bolt upright in the bed, staring at nothing. "Cait?"

She didn't acknowledge him, so he sat up as well and turned her to face him. "Darling? What is it?"

This time his voice seemed to penetrate, and she said softly, "They're coming."

"Who's coming?" When she didn't respond, he shook her lightly. "Cait? What do you mean?"

She blinked and finally met his eyes. "Ed? What's wrong?"

"I was wondering that myself. Did you have a nightmare?"

She started to shake her head, then stopped as a few stray details from her dream came back to her. "Maybe," she admitted. "Did I wake you? I'm so sorry."

"That's alright." He ran his hands soothingly down her arms. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay."

Just then the phone on the bedside table rang. Straker picked it up, said his name, and listened for a moment. Then he said, "Right. I'm on my way." When he hung up, he met her eyes. "I'm sorry, Cait. Something's come up at the studio. They need me to come in and handle it."

"Oh. Okay. Anything I can help with?"

He smiled warmly at her as he got out of the bed. "No. But thank you. Will you be alright?"

"Of course."

He was pulling on his pants, but paused and looked at her for a moment. "You had a nightmare. Will you be able to get back to sleep?"

She grinned, realizing why he was worried. "Probably not. I've become very spoiled already having you to curl up with, you know. But I'll be fine. I have to get my workroom put in some sort of order so that I can work in there. I might as well get up and do that while you're gone."

"Cait . . ."

She got off the bed and came over to where he stood holding his shirt, obviously unsure whether he should leave her. She gave him a quick kiss and said, "Stop worrying about me. I'm an artist. I work odd hours all the time. You go and take care of your problem at the studio. Maybe we can sleep in tomorrow to make up for losing sleep tonight."

Straker relaxed and finished dressing. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

Cait shrugged in unconcern. "Don't hurry on my account. I lose all track of time when I'm working. I won't notice, I assure you."

He kissed her. "In fact, you're a perfect wife. Aren't you?" he said playfully.

She laughed and ruffled his hair. "You'd better believe it!"

"What's the situation, Paul?" he asked as he entered the Control room of HQ.

Col. Foster turned from the radar and said, "We had two UFOs. Moonbase got one, and the second is heading toward Earth even now. I have Sky 1 on an intercept course. We're just waiting to hear how it goes."

"Trajectory?"

Lt. Ford spoke up. "It's heading for Wessex, Commander."

Straker frowned. "For HQ?"

"No, sir. I don't think so. Nearby, though."

The commander started to get a very bad feeling in his gut. "Where, Ford?" he barked. "Can you pinpoint it?"

"I'll try, sir." After fiddling with his equipment for a few minutes, he looked up worriedly. "I think I have it, Commander. It's headed for your house."

He shut down. He had to, or he'd never have survived the tense minutes that followed. He worked on autopilot, getting on the mike to Capt. Carlin, coordinating the mobiles. And all the while at the back of his mind, he was frantically trying to come up with some way to keep his family safe if the aliens managed to get through the remainder of their defenses. A million scenarios ran through his mind, most of them absolutely terrifying. But outwardly at least, he remained calm and handled the crisis.

"Mobiles?"

Lt. Ford turned from his station and said, "Still on their way, sir. Five minutes out."

His lips compressed. "Time to intercept?"

"Thirty seconds, Commander," said Foster, amazed that Straker was taking this so well. If it had been him in those shoes, he'd have already run off to get home and protect his family. Which was why, he supposed, he didn't have one. Having people at home who depended on you was an open invitation to the aliens to mess you up royally. He'd seen it happen too many times to ever let himself go down that path. But here the Commander was, calm as a cucumber while his new wife and daughter's lives were on the line. Paul didn't know how he did it.

And wasn't sure if he ever wanted to be that cold.

Cait flicked on the light in her new workroom and surveyed the crated paintings and boxes of supplies. She was so grateful to her new husband for being willing to give up his rec room for her. He'd denied that it had been any trouble, assuring her that he rarely – if ever – used the room. But she was grateful, nonetheless. It was very different being married to a man who respected her art. She was still amazed every time he showed her that he cared about her work.

Although if she was ever in doubt, all she had to do was go into the living area and look over the mantle. He had 'Midnight in the Highlands' hanging above the stone fireplace there. He'd said nothing about it when he'd helped them move their stuff in before the wedding. But she'd noticed – and been secretly charmed by it.

She went over to the boom-box sitting on the worktable and turned it on softly, not wanting to wake her sleeping daughter across the house. Then she picked up the first shipping box and set it on the table, opening it and taking out the paints and brushes that she'd wrapped so carefully back home. She sighed. And wondered how long it would take before she thought of Ed's house as home instead of her place on the loch? She'd lived there so many years, and had just finished redecorating after the divorce was final too. But her new husband lived and worked in England, so she'd better get used to a new view from her windows.

She wandered over to the french doors and looked outside. Ed had a lovely wooded area surrounding his home, and the trees seemed to wave in welcome as she watched. It was a beautiful night with clear skies and plenty of stars. She wondered if her husband was busy right now? Or if he was able to look up and enjoy the night sky too?

"Sky 1 to HQ. Come in, HQ."

Straker's hand had the mike before Ford could even react. "Yes, Peter. We're here."

"Detonation positive, Commander. UFO destroyed. I was forced to circle around and give it a second round of missiles though. The first round only damaged it. Sorry, sir, but by then I was low enough that it's possible the explosion was seen from below."

Straker had to hold himself tightly to keep his relieved trembling from being visible. "That's alright, Peter," he told the pilot. "Good shooting."

"Thank you, sir. Heading back to base. Sky 1, out."

Cait was just turning from the patio doors when there was a bright flash in the sky. She came back, searching the eastern sky for another burst, hoping to identify what she'd seen. But the sky remained dark, and eventually she went back to the worktable to finish unpacking her supplies.

Straker was on the phone when Foster entered his office.

"I don't want to hear excuses, Major! I want answers! Get me those reports now!" He hung up and glowered at the colonel. "Well?"

"I thought you'd be heading home by now," Paul dared to say.

The commander sighed, rubbing his eyes. "I wish I was. But that was far too close for comfort, Paul, and I need to find out how they knew I'd remarried."

The colonel frowned. "You think we've got a leak at HQ?"

Straker nodded grimly. "How else would they know?"

Major Bushnell from Security came into the office at that point and wordlessly handed the commander a stack of files.

Straker barely gave him a glance as he opened the first one. "That'll be all, Major."

"Yes, sir."

After he left, Col. Foster said, "What'd you do to Security to have them so cowed?"

Straker gave him a stern look, then spoiled it when his lips quirked slightly. But all he said was, "I threatened them with dire consequences."

"What are those?"

"Hmmm? Oh. Psych evaluations from the last thirty days. I know that Dr. Jackson's already been over them and okayed them. But it's just possible he missed something."

"A bit of a long shot, isn't it?"

Straker looked up, his gaze like chipped ice. "It's all I've got, Paul. Unless you think I should haul in everyone working at HQ and interrogate them one by one?"

Foster almost gulped at the look in those blue eyes. He'd do it too, he thought. Why had he thought for a minute that Straker had been unconcerned with that UFO going after his family? He was obviously as pissed as hell over it. He swallowed carefully and said, "Want help?"

The commander relaxed slightly. "No. But I appreciate the offer, Paul. Thanks."

"Sure." The colonel left him to it and headed back to the Control room. He had his own work to do, and he needed to get back to it. He sincerely hoped the commander would find the problem and deal with it quickly. Paul didn't want to go through another alert like that one for a long time.

She was putting the last paint tubes in her rack when arms came around her from behind. She grinned and leaned back, savoring the feel of him so close.

"Hmmm, Luigi. You should be more careful. My husband could come home any minute, and he's not a forgiving man."

He leaned in and nipped her ear. "I'll defend you, _dolce mia_, and challenge him to a duel," he said with a passable Italian accent.

She giggled and turned in his arms. "Ooh, so fierce! When did you get so bloodthirsty?"

His answering grin faded as he gazed at her, replaced by a look so intense, so focused, that she lost her breath. "Cait . . . !"

It was all the warning she had before he swept her up and set her on the worktable, kissing her deeply as he caressed her everywhere at once. She could barely keep up with his passion, holding on as best she could as he ravaged her throat with hot kisses and tore her blouse in order to stroke the flesh beneath. He seemed almost frantic as he touched her, his eyes burning into hers as he teased her into an aching awareness, then buried himself inside her. Her body craved his touch and responded to his demands without any conscious thought on her part. But inwardly Cait gasped and hung on, bombarded with too much too suddenly to be anything but bewildered.

It was only afterward, when he shuddered in her arms, that she was able to collect her scattered wits enough to stroke his hair and murmur comforting words into his ear. She didn't know what had occurred to upset him so much. She hadn't even been aware he could lose that tight control he had over himself at all times. But she wasn't very surprised to find that the man beneath that control felt things at a deep level. Control wasn't necessary for men with shallow emotions.

After a while, he lifted his head and looked at her, his eyes full of concern and regret. "Cait?"

She smiled. She didn't mind his concern, but she refused to allow him to regret any of the past several minutes. "Hey, there! If I'd known being in my workroom would turn you into a wild man, I'd have set it up sooner."

He searched her eyes. "Are you alright?"

She chuckled. "Very much so. You?"

He sighed. "Cait, I'm sorry . . ."

She shushed him with a finger to his lips. "Don't you dare apologize!" She leaned closer, running her hands through his hair. "It'll be dawn soon. Shall we go back to bed and snuggle?"

He gave her a soft smile and lifted her down from the table. But when he turned to go with her out of the room, he stepped on something. Picking it up, he saw that it was a button from her shirt. He was surprised and looked at her blouse, which was hanging open, exposing her ample charms to his view. "Cait . . ." he began again, unsure how to explain his behavior.

But she grinned at him and closed her hand around his, so that the button nestled in his palm. "Keep it," she said softly. "Put it in your treasure box as a remembrance of tonight."

"It didn't bother you?" he asked in shock.

"To have my husband want me so much he tore my shirt?" she answered with a sassy grin. "Why would that bother me? Actually, I'm pretty sure I feel challenged to someday return the favor."

He laughed in spite of himself, relaxing at her smug expression. "I'll look forward to it," he told her as they headed for the bedroom.

**Chapter 3**

He arrived at the studio just as his secretary was returning from lunch. He gave her a sheepish grin and collected his mail before going into his studio office and on down to HQ.

He and Cait had slept in, and he had surprised himself by falling asleep quickly and easily with her in his arms – as if their lives had never been in danger. But then, he supposed he had gotten the residual fear out of his system when he'd made love to her so uncontrollably in her workroom. When they'd eventually dressed and come out of the bedroom late in the morning, Shannon had looked at them askance, then turned back to watch some animated Japanese program on the television as if the two of them were simply too weird to handle. Cait had chuckled, then held his hand all the way to the kitchen, where she'd then made them a hearty brunch, feeding him bites as she cooked. Shannon had even been coaxed away from her program long enough to join them for the meal. She hadn't said anything about their late rising, but her expression told them she thought they were silly to waste half the day in bed.

He expected much the same sentiments from his second-in-command, but instead Alec looked worried when he entered his HQ office. The colonel jumped up from his chair and circled the desk, grabbing his friend by the arms and saying, "Are you okay, Ed? And Cait? Shannon?"

"Yes, Alec. We're fine," Straker said, rather pleased that his friend understood how serious the attack had been.

"You should have called me in."

Straker took his seat behind the desk as Alec sat in front of it. "Why? Col. Foster had it under control. And I was there to supervise."

Alec shook his head. "If I'd been there, you could have gone home to be with them, Ed. Surely the thought crossed your mind?"

"Of course, it did! But there wasn't time! I would never have reached them before they were killed, Alec! Their best bet was for me to stay where I was and make sure that UFO never landed. Believe me, I weighed my options."

The colonel sighed. "Yeah, I'm sure you did. Damn it, Ed! Who told them you got married again?"

"I don't know. I went over the psych evaluations with a fine-toothed comb. But I found nothing. Of course, that only eliminates one-third of our staff. But other than calling for impromptu exams for the remaining operatives, I can't think of any other way to find the traitor."

"Is that what you're going to do?"

The commander nodded. "Yes. I have to discuss it with Jackson first, but I don't think he'll argue the point. It's pretty clear there's been a leak. We need to find it and stop any further information from getting to the aliens."

"Yeah, I agree," said the colonel. "But that won't help Cait or Shannon. They know you've got a vulnerable spot now. They won't leave it alone."

Straker looked grim. "I know, Alec. I know."

"So, what was with you guys this morning?"

Cait turned from her dreamy contemplation of the scenery out the patio doors and met her daughter's eyes. She shrugged, smiling softly as she glanced toward the worktable. "Oh, nothing much. Ed got called out late to deal with a problem at the studio and didn't get back till really early this morning. Since I waited up for him, we both were pretty tired by the time he got home."

"Oh. I thought maybe you two were playing newlywed games."

"Really?" her mother asked with a grin. "And what might those be, young lady?"

Shannon blushed to the roots of her hair. "Nothing. Sheesh! Like I don't know what you're doing all night in your bedroom!"

Cait raised a brow. "All night? How much stamina do you think we have?"

"Mom!"

Cait laughed. "Oh, Shannon! I take back every snide remark I've ever made about sex! It's absolutely wonderful with the right man."

Her daughter shook her head. "Yeah, Mom, but that's not a lot of help to me. How will I know who the right man is unless I have sex with him?"

"Hmmm. I see your problem."

Shannon came further into the room and said, "How did you know that he was different, Mom? That he was the right one?"

"I don't know, baby," her mother answered. "It wasn't like a lightbulb went off or anything. Or a neon sign that read 'Perfect Man' over his head. It was more like I was so happy when I was with him. Relaxed, as I never am around most of the guys I know. But I think the biggest thing is that he constantly surprises me."

"Like – giving you things?"

"No. Not those kinds of surprises. It's that . . . he doesn't treat me the way I expect him to. He's so kind. And thoughtful. And I'm not at all used to that. So he tends to surprise me. A lot."

Shannon looked at her somberly. "Dad wasn't very nice to you, was he, Mom?"

"Oh, Shannon! That's not what I meant!" Cait said, worried that her daughter might think poorly of her father.

"No. I get it. Really I do. Ed surprises me too. He's just so nice. And not obvious about it either. Like really listening to me when I talk. How many adults do that, you know? Except you, but you're my mom, so you don't count."

"Thanks."

"But then he does other stuff, like getting me on at the studio with Mr. Cochran. I mean, he's a famous director! And I'm learning from him! What could be cooler than that? But Ed does it all sorta behind-the-scenes, so that you don't realize it's him making it happen. It's just so neat. And it makes me wonder . . ."

"Makes you wonder what, sweetie?"

Shannon met her mother's eyes. "Why his first wife ever got rid of him?"

"Commander, I would have appreciated being asked first before you confiscated those records."

Straker gave the doctor a straight look. "You weren't available."

Jackson sighed. "Did you find anything?"

"No." Straker handed him the stack. "But thank you for letting me check them. I'd like you to authorize Emergency Protocol 7, if you will. I've already okayed it at this end."

"I had a feeling you might."

"You disagree?"

The doctor sighed again. "No, Commander. I don't disagree. I have no problem doing examinations of the rest of the HQ staff. It's the necessary next step to finding any possible leak. However, have you considered that this incident might have another interpretation?"

Straker looked at him in surprise. "What do you mean?"

Dr. Jackson raised a brow. "Your wife, Commander. She's been involved in an alien incursion before. She may have already been a target before you married her."

Straker stood up slowly, not taking his eyes off the doctor. "Initiate Protocol 7, Jackson," he said coldly. "And leave my wife to me."

He came home late and with a great deal of paperwork. He gave Cait a rather sad smile and admitted, "The price I pay for taking the morning off."

"Did you eat?" she asked him.

"No. But don't bother. I can just warm something up. You and Shannon probably had dinner hours ago."

Cait grinned at him. "I saved some for you. Go on into the study and get settled. I'll bring you dinner in a minute."

He kissed her, running a hand down her dark cap of hair. "Thanks."

He'd just finished the delicious pasta dish she'd warmed for him when there was a small knock on the door of his study. "Come in."

The door opened, and Shannon leaned against the jamb. "Hi!"

Straker smiled. "Hello. Sorry I missed having supper with you. Did you have a fun day?"

"Yeah. I finished unpacking my stuff. I have more room than I thought."

He chuckled. "It won't take you long to fill it, I'm sure."

Shannon grinned. "You're right. I already have plans."

"I'm not surprised. I suppose a shopping trip is in the works?"

She giggled, reminding him forcibly of her mother. "Yeah. Mom said she'd take me to town this weekend. I can't wait!"

"A lady can never have too many clothes," he agreed.

"See? That's what I like about you, Ed," she told him. "You understand these things."

"Actually, I'm just quoting my Wardrobe supervisor."

Shannon laughed, then just stood in the doorway grinning at him.

After a moment, he raised an eyebrow. "Did you need something else, Shannon?"

She shrugged. "I just wanted to say thanks."

"For what?"

"For being you," she said cryptically, then left, leaving him blinking at the study door.

When Straker arrived at work the next morning, Dr. Jackson was waiting for him in his HQ office, looking grim. The commander sighed as he took his seat behind the desk. "Alright, Doctor. Give me the bad news."

Jackson gestured to the small pile of reports on the desk. "These are the operatives that have been compromised. Hackman, Geist, and Rodgers."

Straker opened the report on top and glanced inside. "I see. Where are they now?"

"Undergoing interrogation."

Strake raised a brow at him. "Any results?"

"Not so far, Commander. As you know, the aliens are known for being uncooperative when questioned. Those who've been compromised react similarly. We've tried truth serum on the operatives without any effect. Currently, we are employing more physical measures."

Straker had no trouble understanding his terminology. "I see. Do you expect to get any results that way?"

The doctor sighed. "Not really. But we would be remiss not to at least attempt it before terminating them."

Straker closed the report. "We're going to need to step up our psych evaluations, aren't we?"

"You mean, have them more often, Commander? Yes, I think that would be best. Especially considering the results of this examination."

"Two men and a woman," Straker said, frowning at the closed reports in front of him. "Do they have anything in common, Jackson? Anything at all that might explain how the aliens got to them?"

The doctor shook his head. "We've found nothing so far, Commander. But it's early days yet. Rest assured that I have a team retracing their steps carefully for the past month or so. If there's a common thread anywhere, we'll find it and follow it back to the source."

"Good. I'll leave that in your hands then. You'll let me know if any of them talk?"

"Yes, of course."

"Good. Thank you."

Jackson was not quick to leave the office, however. "Commander," he said hesitantly.

"Yes?" Straker frowned at him, wondering what else he wanted to discuss. He sincerely hoped it wasn't Cait. He had no intention of subjecting his wife to Jackson's scrutiny under any circumstances.

"However they found out, they know you have a family now."

"I am aware."

"They need protection."

Straker took a deep breath. "I realize that, Doctor. But my wife is not only a trifle stubborn and independent, she's also extremely intelligent. She won't be fooled for long by any cover story I might give her about a protection detail."

"You have an alternative suggestion?"

"Yes. It's not ideal, but it does have the merit of being less intrusive. I've stationed mobiles around the perimeter of my land until further notice. And Sky 1 has doubled the number of times they do fly-overs of my house on their regular patrol. It won't catch every possible scenario, but at least I can go to work without worrying too much about their safety."

"Very well, Commander. We'll leave it at that for now. If however, circumstances change . . ."

"Thank you, Doctor. I appreciate your willingness to help."

Jackson gave him a short Slavic bow and left the office. And the commander ran a shaky hand over his face, knowing that it was just a matter of time before things got too dangerous for his wife and daughter to be left to their own devices. And he had no idea how he would handle the situation once that day came.

**Chapter 4**

Shannon was nervous at breakfast in the morning, and it didn't take Straker long to learn the reason why. It was her first day at her new school.

"Would you like for me to take you to school this morning on my way to work?" he asked her as he drank his chamomile tea.

"For real?" she asked, perking up immediately.

"Oh, Ed!" Cait said with a shake of her head. "It's quite out of your way."

He smiled at her. "I don't mind. Really." Then he frowned slightly. "Unless you wanted to take her?"

"Oh, Mom! I want to go with Ed," Shannon said. "His car is cooler than yours."

Cait smiled wryly. "Well, in that case, I guess I've been outvoted. I'll just stay here and play in my workroom all morning then."

Straker laid a hand over hers on the table. "You're welcome to come along, if you like."

She gave him a warm smile. "And have you bring me all the way back here before you go on to work? No, Ed. I'm fine with having you take Shannon to school. Besides, it would ruin everything if she arrived in the back seat of your car. It's not the same at all."

"We could always take the limo," he suggested.

Shannon gasped, but her mother smacked his hand. "Cut it out, Ed! Don't encourage her!"

"Mom!"

Straker grinned and finished his tea. "Another day, perhaps. Ready to go?"

"Yeah! Let me get my stuff." She ran off to her bedroom to get her school bag.

Cait stood up and gave her husband a good-bye kiss. "Thanks for taking her, Ed. It'll be a real treat for her."

He smiled and pulled her closer, kissing her back. "What you don't seem to understand is that it's a treat for me too. But by all means, thank me all you want."

When Shannon returned to the living area, she rolled her eyes at them. "You two are always kissing!" she complained. But secretly she enjoyed seeing her mother look so happy. She hadn't even realized that her mother had been unhappy with her dad until she saw her with Ed. Her mother never used to smile so much. Or laugh. But now she glowed. It was really cool to see. Shannon hoped things could always stay this way.

Friday afternoon after school, Cait brought Shannon to the studio and stayed to chat with the director for a few minutes while Shannon donned her studio necktag and started on the list he'd given her of odd jobs that needed done on the set. Cait enjoyed the exuberance of the actors and crew as they interacted while they worked on scenes for the television show. It was a nice, laid-back environment for her daughter to work in, and it made her a lot less worried than she would have been had Shannon worked at some other studio.

She spent several hours wandering the studio grounds, marveling at how extensive they were and how much work went on everywhere all at once. She thought her husband must find it very satisfying to manage such a productive group of people. The entire atmosphere of the place suited his personality so well. She had her small digital camera with her and took shots of whatever interested her as she wandered, looking for textures, mood, and color. By the time she met with him for dinner, her camera was full. And she was ready to start transferring some of her inspirations into sketches.

Straker for his part had spent the afternoon unable to focus on his work. Knowing that Cait was at the studio made him long to be with her, showing her around as he'd done before and answering her questions about everything she saw. But he'd refrained from doing that, knowing that the artist in her simply wanted to explore. However, it wasn't easy to think about studio concerns – or even SHADO concerns – when she was so close by.

By the time he met her at the studio cafeteria for dinner, he could finally relax. "Did you enjoy yourself?" he asked her as they brought their food to a table and sat.

"Very much!" she assured him. "I hadn't realized how large the studio was! And how much you're involved in doing here! It's a wonder you ever get to come home from work!"

He grinned. "Well, I don't personally do everything, you know. Mostly, I'm just a glorified overseer."

She doubted that very much. "The studio _feels_ like you. Did you know that?"

He gave her an inquiring look. "I'm not sure what that means."

"Oh. Um. The mood of the crews, the way things get done. I don't know how to describe it exactly. It's everything, I guess. From the way the buildings are lined up all in neat rows to the way things seem to get done in an orderly fashion with very little fuss. It's almost military in its precision. You weren't schooled at West Point, by any chance, were you?"

"No. I went to a private school in Boston," he said absently. But inwardly, he sighed. His wife was not only more intelligent than the average person, her artistic eye saw a lot more, too. "But I was in the Air Force for a while."

"Really? Well, that would explain it then." She ate her salad before adding, "That was very wise of you to have Shannon work in close proximity with her favorite actor."

"Oh?" he said cautiously, unsure how much he should admit about that.

Cait grinned at his innocent look. She wasn't buying it for a minute! "Yeah. She's completely over her crush on him – and it only took two weeks!"

"Oh." He smiled softly. "It's a sure-fire cure, you know, to actually work with them."

She laughed. "I believe it! He's rather insufferable in person, isn't he?"

Straker shrugged. "I suppose we all would be if we had people falling over themselves to speak to us."

"But you're not that way," she pointed out.

"Well, people tend to give me a wide berth," he said. "It's not the same when you're the big boss."

She shook her head at the thought. "I'd think they would want your attention more. It doesn't make a lot of sense to go after the small fry. Fame is rather silly, isn't it?"

He laughed, enchanted by her. "Yes, Cait. I'm afraid that it is."

Dr. Jackson's findings on the three compromised operatives was interesting. It had taken a while to find the common element between them. But eventually it had come out that they all frequented the same wooded area in southern England. Hackman lived in a flat near the woods and often jogged there, while Rodgers had an aunt that he visited weekly who lived nearby. Carol Geist had been the difficult one to pin down. But apparently, she took her poodle to be groomed at a shop a block from the woods and often walked there with her dog after his twice monthly appointments.

Once they knew where to look, it hadn't been hard to find the small pond in the midst of the woods where the aliens had been hiding. Col. Foster led the mobile team that flushed the ship out, and he was happy to report back that they had been successful in destroying it without suffering any casualties themselves.

Straker was relieved to be able to file the final report on the incident. But he knew that the damage had been done, and that consequently, the issue of his family's safety was far from being resolved. He felt woefully inadequate in his efforts to protect them from possible attack and was forced to recognize that he had not done Cait any favors when he had married her.

Some of his concerns he confided to Alec. But his friend was more philosophical about it.

"Listen, Ed," he told him as he sipped whiskey in the chair in front of Straker's HQ desk. "People die all the time. And in a thousand different ways. What good will it do you if you put half of SHADO's resources to guarding Cait and Shannon, only to have them get run over by a bus or die in a plane crash? You can't cover every eventuality."

Straker ran a hand over his face. "I suppose you're right."

"Of course, I am. Sooner or later, you have to trust that they'll be able to handle themselves in a crisis. You already know that Cait can."

The commander looked at him questioningly, and he said, "She shot an alien before, didn't she?"

"Oh, yes!" Straker nodded, smiling slightly as he recalled the night all those years ago when they'd first met. "With her grandfather's elephant gun, if I remember correctly."

"There. You see?"

Straker sat back in his leather chair, allowing the soothing colors of the light mural to calm him. 'Persistence,' Cait had called this one, and he was beginning to accept that keeping the treasure he had so recently been given – the treasure of their lives intertwined with his – was going to require a level of persistence and dedication on his part that he had never had to maintain before. But he was willing to do it, to work extra hard to keep Earth's fiercest enemy away from those he loved.

After all, they were worth it.

He woke when she cried out in her sleep. "Cait, what is it?" he said softly, only to realize that she hadn't wakened, but was still dreaming. He stroked her hair, trying to comfort her so that the dream would lighten, and after a minute, she quieted.

Then she sighed and murmured, "So dark . . ."

He reached over and turned on the bedside lamp. She didn't react to the light, and he could see that she was still mostly asleep. He wondered for a moment if he should turn it back off when she said in an aching voice, "So cruel . . ."

He shook her lightly, trying to get her to waken from whatever nightmare was troubling her. "Cait?" he whispered, gathering her into his arms and rocking her slowly. "It's alright. I'm here."

After a minute, her arms came around him and held on. "Ed? What is it?" she asked quietly.

He sighed. "You had a nightmare."

"Oh. Sorry. I get those sometimes. I'm sorry it woke you."

"Don't worry about it," he assured her, kissing the top of her head. "I'd rather that than to sleep through it and leave you to deal with it alone."

She looked up at him in the soft light, her eyes intense. "Thank you," she said thickly and hugged him tightly.

He continued to rock her, feeling the tension begin to flow out of her body as the nightmare faded from her mind. Unbidden, the reminder of her last nightmare returned to him, when she had sat up in bed and told him someone was coming. And immediately after that . . .

The phone on the bedside started ringing, but he didn't pick it up. He stared at it for a moment, but continued to hold her, to rock her, wondering how she could possibly be connected . . . ?

"Ed?"

"Hmmm?"

"The phone's ringing."

"Yes."

"Aren't you going to answer it?"

Again he kissed the top of her head. "I suppose I must." He loosened his hold and reached over to pick up the receiver. "Straker." He listened for a moment, then said, "Yes. I see. No, I'm not coming in." He gave his wife a swift glance before adding, "I trust you to handle it, Paul. You know what to do. Right. Let me know how it goes, alright? Thanks. Good night."

When he set down the phone, she said, "Ed. It's okay if you need to go in. I'll be alright."

He turned to her and laid a hand on her cheek. "I'm not leaving you to another nightmare, Cait. I'm staying right here. With you."

He sounded quite determined, so she smiled and said, "That's very kind of you. But it's gone already. I never do remember them for long."

"What was it about?" he asked softly. "You said something about it being dark. And cruel."

"I did?" She looked startled for a moment. Her brow furrowed as she tried to recall the images from the dream. "Yes. They were very harsh. Vicious even."

"What were?"

"His thoughts."

Straker drew in a sharp breath. "Whose thoughts?"

"I don't know." Cait shrugged. "In the dream. It doesn't matter now. I've already forgotten it."

"Already?" he asked skeptically.

She grinned at him. "Well, it's a talent of mine."

"Forgetting dreams?"

"Yeah. When I was younger, I used to have really bad nightmares and was afraid to go back to sleep. My mother told me to just shut them off, like when you turn off the television. After a while, I was able to do that fairly well."

He held her for a moment, then said quietly, "I don't want you to forget this dream, Cait. I want you to remember it. Can you do that for me?"

"Why, Ed?"

He sighed. "I think it might be important."

"Really?"

"Yes. Will you try?"

"Alright." She held onto him tightly and opened her mind to the images she had seen in the dream. "There's a place – deep shadows, stark lighting – cliffs in the distance."

"What is this place?" he said softly.

She was quiet for a minute, thinking. Then she said, "Home."

The fine hairs at the nape of his neck stood on end at that, since he was pretty sure she was not referring to Scotland. But he kept his voice bland as he said, "Can you describe it to me in more detail?"

Cait shrugged. "I don't have to. I can show you."

He pulled back and met her eyes. "What do you mean?"

"I've seen it before," she told him. "I've painted it."

**Chapter 5**

She flicked on the workroom light as they entered, and immediately went over to the crates of paintings along one wall. She pulled out a canvas and set it on one of the easels, standing back and letting him see it clearly.

He drew in a breath. It was very much as she had described it. Several odd-shaped structures stood in the deep shadows of a tall cliff, while other cliffs ringed the background. The land was parched, cracked and dry with brittle patches of greenery. The lighting was quite harsh, like midday in the desert, stark and unforgiving. It was a desolate landscape . . .

And it had been beautifully rendered by his wife.

"Cait, when did you paint this?"

"A few weeks ago," she said. "It's part of a new series I'm doing."

He looked swiftly at her. "You've done more?"

"Oh, yeah. Several, in fact. I took some in to Charlene just last week. She wants to arrange a gallery night around them. She thinks they're incredible. Creepy, but incredible."

"And what does Antoine think of them?" he asked, aware that the gallery worker was quite perceptive.

Cait grinned. "He thinks they're nasty things and begged me to stop painting them. He said it was like looking into hell. But he's from New Orleans, you know. So he's very superstitious."

Straker swallowed, looking back at the painting. "It's very different from your usual work," he said. "What gave you the idea for them?"

"I'm not really sure," she said. "I think it may have been this toy I found when I was cleaning." She walked over to the small bookshelf where a jumble of odds and ends sat. He remembered suddenly that she had once told him she had a shelf where she kept the curious things she found, because they inspired her. She took a small item from one of the baskets and showed it to him. It was round and rather flat and was ringed with a pewter-like metal. The center looked like a luminous stone, lit from within, but when he took it from her, the glow faded and it simply looked like a smooth grey rock.

Straker's heart was in his throat as he held the object. He'd seen similar items before. SHADO had quite a collection of artifacts that had been gathered from the aliens they had killed over the years. "Where did you find this?" he asked, trying to keep his tone casual.

He must not have succeeded, because she frowned at him for a moment before answering. "I told you. I found it when I was cleaning."

"When? Here?"

"No. Of course not. I would have showed it to you if I'd found it here, Ed. Surely you know that?"

"Yes. Of course I do," he assured her, slipping it into his pocket. "Then it was back in Scotland."

She nodded. "Right after the divorce was finalized. I went on a cleaning tear. Remember? I told you I got all new living room furniture."

"Yes. I remember. You found it then? Fifteen weeks ago?"

Cait considered. "Yeah. Right about then, I think. I found quite a few things, actually, in odd corners of the room, under the sofa, places like that." She grimaced. "I'm not a very good housekeeper, I guess, Ed. I'm not one to deep clean very often. I don't think that room had been cleared out since the year I first moved in after college! Are you appalled at me?"

He smiled and shook his head. "Not at all. If I wanted a housekeeper, I'd have hired one."

She gave him a brilliant smile. "Oh! That's lovely! You say the nicest things to me!"

He chuckled. "Darling, surely you weren't worried that I'd be upset about your cleaning abilities?"

"Well, I'm a bit absent-minded when it comes to cleaning, Ed. My mother despaired of me."

He brought her into his arms. "You're an artist, Cait. No one should expect you to concern yourself with housekeeping."

"Oh, I like you!" she said.

He kissed her. "I'm glad to hear it."

After a moment, he released her and took the disk out of his pocket. "Do you still think it's a toy, Cait?"

She frowned at him. "What else could it be? I've never had anything like it, and Seamus certainly didn't. Where else could it have come from? It must be a toy that one of Shannon's friends left at the house. It was very dusty when I found it. It had probably been laying in that corner for years!"

He could have told her exactly how long it had lain in the corner of her living room, unnoticed by anyone until she had found it, dusted it off, and kept it as a curiosity. He handed it back to her, watching as the center stone began to glow once it had contact with her hand. "I don't think it's a toy, Cait," he said gravely.

She met his eyes, then glanced at the painting on the easel. "What is it then?" she asked softly.

He put it back in the pocket of his robe when she handed it to him. "I don't know. But perhaps we can find out."

"How?"

He turned to her crates. "Would you show me the rest?"

"You mean, the other paintings in the series?"

"Yes."

She said nothing for a moment, just held his gaze. Then she said, "It's important, isn't it?"

"It might be," he admitted. "Although I'm always interested in your work."

She gave him a wry smile as she went to take out the other paintings. "I know, Ed. But this is different, isn't it?"

"Possibly."

He helped her set out the rest of the paintings around the workroom. There were seven others in the series, besides the first one she'd shown him. When he asked, she told him that the five remaining paintings from the series were at the gallery.

"You've been very prolific," he said as he surveyed them.

She nodded absently as she looked around. "I kept getting these unusual images, like nothing I'd ever imagined before. I had to see if I could get them down, get them right."

"I think you've done an incredible job," he told her. "I can almost feel the heat. And the isolation."

"Yes." She rubbed her arms. "That was what struck me the most. How alone it all felt. Rather like the last piece of candy in a jar. Or leaf on a tree." She turned to where he was studying one of the paintings. "Do you think I suffered a breakdown after the divorce, Ed? That I've lost it? Gone looney?"

"No, I don't," he said reassuringly as he came toward her. "But I would like you to talk to a doctor I know."

"A psychiatrist?" she asked as they left the room.

"Yes. But not as a patient. Simply because he would be interested in this. I think he would be as fascinated by it as I am."

She looked searchingly at him as they went back into the bedroom. "You find it fascinating?"

He gave her a warm smile as he drew her down onto the bed. "Very much so. I think my wife is an amazing woman with incredible talents. Forgive me if I'm a bit biased."

She relaxed as he nibbled her neck; smiled as he opened her robe. "Oh, I don't mind," she said dreamily.

Col. Foster called later to inform him that the interceptors had gotten the UFO.

"Where was it headed?"

"Same place as last time. Your house."

"Right. Thanks, Paul. Have the report ready for me in the morning. We'll talk then." Straker hung up and turned to his wife, who had stirred when he'd answered the phone. "Hello, sleepyhead."

She grinned, reaching out to touch his chest. "Shannon is sure we stay up all night playing 'newlywed games' in here."

His eyebrow raised, making her grin widen. "Is that so? And what does a twelve year old know about it?"

"More than we'd like her to, I'm sure. I told her we couldn't possibly go all night, but it seems that I was wrong."

He chuckled and leaned forward to kiss her. "Want to set a new record?" he teased.

Cait put her arms around his neck. "I'm game if you are."

Some time later, he got off the bed and went to his wardrobe. Cait lay in the bed and watched him, admiring the lines of his lean body as he opened the door, reached up, and took something off the top shelf of the wardrobe. When he closed the door and turned back to the bed, he caught her expression.

And grinned. "Shannon will find us remarkably tired in the morning if you keep that up," he warned her playfully as he came back to the bed.

Cait laughed. "Can't help it. You're just so beautiful." She put her tongue between her teeth. "You inspire me."

He flushed with pleasure, but shook his head, denying any such thing. But then he looked at her as a thought struck him. "You don't paint nudes, do you?"

She sat up and winked at him. "Not usually. But I could make an exception. Want to model for me?"

His flush deepened. "No. Absolutely not!"

She giggled. "Prude."

"Definitely."

"Tell me something, Ed."

"What's that?"

"What's in the box?"

He smiled shyly, recalled to his original purpose. "Oh, just a few things," he said as he grabbed his key ring off the bedside table and used a small key to open the wooden box.

"Ed!" she whispered, realizing what it was even before he opened the lid. "Your treasure box!"

He looked inside for a moment, then set it in her lap. "Want to see?" he asked softly.

She met his eyes, trying to tell what he was thinking. But although she was aware that showing this to her was important to him, she didn't know why. When he only smiled back at her, explaining nothing, she looked into the box.

Tiny objects filled most of its depth, some familiar, some unfamiliar. She lifted out a small stone – and smiled. "This is from our hike that day, isn't it?"

"Yes," he said, watching as she turned it in her fingers. "How did you know?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. I guessed. But it feels like it was from that day."

"How does it feel?" he asked quietly.

"Happy," she said after a minute. "At peace."

"Yes." He picked up another rock from the box and handed it to her, putting the other one back inside the box. "What about that one? Was it from that day as well?"

She shook her head, closing her eyes for a minute as she thought about what she held. Then her eyes popped open. "Oh! This is from the shore! When you were a boy! You chased the seagulls and laughed when they flew away squawking!"

"How did you know that?" he asked softly.

She looked surprised, glancing at the pebble in her hands as if it might tell her. "I don't know. But the image was very strong. Did it happen that way? Is that where you got this stone?"

"Yes. I was six, I think. My mother had made a picnic lunch, and we'd gone to the beach. Just an ordinary summer day. But I found this pebble and kept it. Those were happy days then, priceless in retrospect."

"You lost her five years later, didn't you?" she asked quietly, hearing the sadness in his voice.

"Yes." He met her eyes. "And I thought I would never find anyone else who understood me again. Until I met you."

Cait lifted a hand to his cheek. "Ed! Oh, Ed. You're easy to know!"

He turned his face and kissed her palm. "No. I'm not. But you see me so clearly. And you like me anyway."

"Why wouldn't I?" she asked softly, framing his face in both hands and gazing into his beautiful eyes.

His hands rested on her wrists as he said, "Because I'm not a very nice person, Cait. I've done things – things I had to do, things I regret so much. I'll never be – I don't know how to put it in words – _clean_ again. Without scars. But you don't seem to mind. You see my ghosts, but they don't make you turn from me. As if they don't matter to you. As if you see through them to who I still am – inside. I don't know how to tell you how much that means to me."

She set the box aside and drew him close, kissing his face all over, drying his tears with her lips. "I love you, Ed!" she whispered fervently. "You're the most wonderful man I've ever known. You're right. Your scars and your ghosts don't bother me. Maybe you wouldn't be who you are today without them. Have you thought of that? And I like who you are. I _love_ who you are! How could I fail to? You're an amazing man! So dear! So sweet! So kind!"

He held her tightly, returning her kisses with equal fervor. "Cait! Cait!" he murmured, overwhelmed by her. After a long while, he drew back, smoothing her hair away from her face. "Thank you," he said softly.

Her grey eyes gazed into his, their expression warm and loving. "Any time." She lifted the box to return it to him, but frowned as she set the pebble back inside. "Ed, how did I know that about your childhood? How could the stone tell me all that?"

"I'm not entirely sure," he said. "Why don't you try something else?"

"Okay." She rooted around in the box and picked up a squashed piece of metal. "What's this?" she asked with a grin, then her expression changed. "Oh!"

He took it from her unresisting fingers and held it in his palm. "It's from Gettysburg. My father took us there once for vacation."

Cait swallowed. "It's a bullet, isn't it?"

"Yes. I found it on the battlefield."

"But it's squashed," she persevered. "So it hit someone. Didn't it? And they died."

He set it back into the box and closed the lid. "Is that what you saw, Cait? Someone die?"

She nodded. "Ed . . . what does it mean? I know I have a vivid imagination. My mother used to tell me all the time that I should write some of my stories down, because they sounded so real. But this is . . . bizarre!"

"It's called psychometry."

She looked at him in surprise. "There's a name for it?"

"Yes. It's very rare. I've never actually met anyone who had the gift before. I've only read about it."

But she was shaking her head. "But I'm not psychic! I can't read people's minds! I don't even want to! It would be awful!"

"It's not telepathy," he told her. "It's different. You don't read thoughts. You simply pick up images and impressions from inanimate objects. Strong feelings mostly, from what I've seen tonight."

She gazed at him for a long moment. "You were testing me?"

He sighed. "I had to. I wasn't sure where the images were coming from. Whether you were picking up residual impressions or whether the disk was actively projecting them."

"So you tested me with things only you knew the history of," she said slowly. "Like a controlled experiment."

He laid a hand over hers where it fisted on the sheets. "Cait. If I'd told you beforehand, it would have prejudiced the results. It had to be like a game, so that your responses were true. I'm sorry. I didn't know how else to do it."

She was silent for a full minute, gauging his words. Then she said, "This is why you want me to see your doctor friend?"

"Yes. Although I wouldn't consider him a friend, exactly."

She almost smiled at his dry tone. But when she thought about the disk she'd found and the images she'd painted, she didn't feel like smiling. "So, Ed. Who did that toy belong to? Or whatever it is?"

He sighed again. "That's another story. And one that can wait till the morning. Will you come to the studio with me? I can arrange for you to talk to the doctor then, and try to answer all your questions."

"Alright."

But when he'd put the treasure box back on its shelf and returned to bed, she laid awake in his arms for some time, thinking. Finally she asked softly, "Ed? Where is that place I painted in all those pictures? I mean, if those are real memories, then it has to be somewhere, doesn't it?"

He ran his hand through her dark cap of hair. "Yes. It's definitely somewhere," he said, his voice slurring sleepily. "Maybe you can help us figure out more about it."

"Okay," she said, snuggling closer and closing her eyes.

**Chapter 6**

Shannon found her new stepdad a little preoccupied at breakfast. But he offered to drop her off at school again, and she was quick to agree before her mom could veto it. However, when she got out to the car, she found that her mom was going along too. She didn't know what was up, but she could tell as she climbed into the back seat that things were a little more constrained between them than they'd been yesterday. She might have spent the whole day worrying about it, except that Ed met her concerned glance in the rearview mirror and smiled reassuringly at her. So maybe it wasn't a big deal after all.

Cait felt unaccountably nervous as they drove to the studio. Ed had been rather silent all through breakfast, and she couldn't help but be aware that whatever he had to show her today was of great importance to him. But when they got to his office, he wasn't in any hurry to explain himself.

Straker looked at his wife as she sat in front of his studio desk – and desperately wished that he had more options available to him in this situation. But that seemed to be a recurring scenario where she was concerned. He never did have enough alternatives when it came to her involvement with his real job. And he was uncomfortably aware that once she knew the truth, the few options he had at his disposal would quickly run out.

"What is it, Ed?" she asked while he struggled for the right words to say. "What's wrong? Have you changed your mind about showing me whatever it was you wanted to show me?"

"No." He straightened in his chair. "It's just that things will be different between us, Cait, once you know it all. And I'm not at all ready for that change. You see me so clearly – you always have. You even glimpse behind the mask that I'm forced to wear every day. But once that mask is gone, removed completely so that you truly see me for who I am, I'm afraid you won't like the man that's revealed."

"I'm not sure what you mean," she said. "What mask are you referring to?"

He sighed. "The Ed that you know isn't the real me, Cait. It's a mask that I wear. The reality of who I really am isn't as nice – and not at all sweet." He shook his head, remembering her words to him the night before. Then he sighed again. "It doesn't matter. You'll understand soon enough. Just – remember this. I love you. I've always loved you. And – I'm sorry." He reached for the silver cigar case that sat near the corner of his desk and lifted the lid. His eyes wore a haunted look as he gazed at her, but he only said tersely, "Straker."

Cait nearly jumped when she heard the tinny voice answer. "Voice Identification, positive. Commander Straker."

She would have commented then, on hearing him referred to in military terms, but he looked so grim that she remained silent. Even when he pushed a button and the office began to descend underground like an elevator.

When it finally stopped, he stood up and came around the desk for the door. He gestured for her to accompany him, and she stood up, searching his features for some clue of what this was all about. But his beautiful face was closed off to her, his blue eyes shuttered. He had told her that he wore a mask and that this was the real Ed. But to her, it seemed as if this was the mask, hiding the wonderful man she knew behind a barrier of what looked like grim determination.

"Shall we?" he said with a ghost of his usual smile, and she nodded as the door opened and they exited the office. They came out into a brightly-lit corridor where a security guard stood at attention. But Cait barely noticed him. Her eyes had been caught by the large sign on the opposite wall. SHADO, it read. Supreme Headquarters Alien Defense Organization. She had to read it several times before its meaning managed to sink in; she had the oddest feeling that she had wandered into a play all of a sudden. Surely this couldn't be real?

She turned to her husband, who stood quietly at her side while she absorbed the shock that five-letter acronym gave her. "Aliens, Ed? Then that place . . . the one I painted . . .?"

He nodded. "Yes. It's not anywhere on Earth."

She shook her head, not in denial, he knew, but in amazement at the magnitude of what she had done. Straker took her arm and led her down the hall toward the Control room. When they entered, every head turned and all conversation stopped. It seemed to Cait as if the large open room was full of people, but then she recognized one of them, and it no longer seemed quite so intimidating.

Col. Freeman left the others where they'd been working, bent over a console looking at a large map, and approached. "Ed?" he asked, his eyes wide as they traveled from her to her husband.

"Good morning, Alec," Straker said crisply, ignoring the implied question. "You know Cait."

"Yeah. Hi."

She smiled slightly, aware that he was nearly as bewildered as she was. "Hi, Alec."

"Col. Foster?" the commander said, and the other man working on the map nodded.

"Yes, sir?"

"Is your report on my desk?"

"Yes, sir."

Straker gave a short nod. "Good. You're off duty. Go get some sleep." After a brief pause, he added as if compelled to give credit where it was due, "You've earned it."

The younger man grinned, becoming charming for a moment. "Yes, sir," he said in a much more relaxed tone of voice before he left the room down another hallway.

The other person who had been working on the map stared at Cait with a carefully blank expression on her classically beautiful face. But her eyes gave away her true feelings, and in spite of the animosity Cait felt coming off her in waves, Cait relaxed for the first time this morning. Jealousy she understood. Ed might be acting like a stranger, the world might be facing an enemy she would never have imagined in her wildest nightmares, but normal human emotion? That she could relate to, and had no trouble accepting.

Consequently, when Ed turned and led her down a few steps and into another room without acknowledging anyone else in the Control room, Cait had to hide a smile. There was so little to smile about in this stark place of grim purpose, but she couldn't help herself. The beautiful woman who worked for him had just been put firmly in her place, and he'd done it without even saying a word. Cait stole a glance at her husband and decided she didn't mind this harsher version of him as much as she'd thought she might at first.

The first thing she noticed upon entering the room was her light mural on the wall behind the desk. She'd wondered where he had hung it, since his studio office hadn't contained any artwork on the walls – just head shots of actors and actresses, and an intimidatingly large display case behind his chair full of Oscars and other award statuettes. Her smile bloomed as she sat down in front of the desk in this office. She was so pleased that he had hung it here, in this nightmare world.

Straker acknowledged her smile with a wry one of his own as he sat down behind his desk. "Yes," he said quietly. "I like having a piece of you here to brighten my day."

"I'm glad."

He gazed at her for a moment, still slightly smiling. Then he asked, "Questions?"

"How long . . . ?" She waved a hand vaguely.

"We began operations at this base in 1975, although the entire organization wasn't fully up and running until 1980."

"That long ago?" Cait was surprised. "Hasn't it been difficult? I mean, they can obviously travel extreme distances, so their technology has to be more advanced than ours. How has it been possible to keep them from taking over?"

Once more, that wry smile emerged. "As you say, it's been difficult. But so far, we've been able to hold our heads above water – barely. Our biggest problem is that we still, after all this time, know so little about them. It's harder to fight what you don't understand."

"I can imagine." Several things began to make sense now. "You think that my paintings might help you know them better. Or at least, where they're from."

"Yes." He sat forward. "But it's more than that. You seem to be able to activate their devices, which we've been unable to do, although we have quite a few of them. It's quite possible that your psychic ability is the trigger. We've found that they have some telepathic abilities, and that could also be the way they use their weapons."

"So the toy I found was a weapon?"

"Not exactly. I think it's a homing device of sorts, sending them a signal through space that brings them on the run to rescue the one who triggered it. At least, that's what I'm assuming from their actions since you found the disk."

Cait grimaced. "You mean, I've been turning that thing on without realizing it? Sending for them?"

His smile was softer this time. "Don't worry about it, Cait. You didn't know." He took the disk out of his pocket and held it in his palm. "It does look harmless. Why should you think it would cause any trouble?"

She frowned at it. "What makes you think I triggered it? Couldn't you be doing it yourself right now?"

He shook his head, then leaned forward, holding the disk out to her. "Touch it." When she hesitated, he said, "It's alright. We're eighty feet underground right now, and these walls are lead-lined. No signal will get through, I assure you."

She reached out tentatively and put one finger on the stone in the center of the disk. Instantly it began to glow luminously. She quickly removed her finger, and the stone returned to its normal dull grey. She stared at it in amazement. "Oh, my! Why didn't I ever notice that?"

Straker's hand moved, putting the disk between his fingers as he rubbed it without looking at it. "Because you used it like a worry stone, Cait. The same way I've seen you touch other things. The rocks in my treasure box last night, for instance. Absently, feeling them more than seeing them. Gathering information from your fingertips rather than from your eyes. You're quite sensitive for being an artist."

She frowned. "I thought artists were usually considered more sensitive than others."

"True," he agreed. "But not visual artists. Painters, designers. They tend to rely too much on what they see. But you don't. It's your gift that makes the difference with you, I think. You use it without ever being completely aware that you are. It's incredible to watch."

She blushed, realizing from his tone that last night's test had been more than just that to him. It had been a voyage of discovery as well. "And you think I can use this gift to help you understand these aliens better?"

"Yes. I do. It's why I want you to talk to Dr. Jackson. I have a feeling that he's going to agree with me. It will be a novel experience."

She grinned at his dry tone. "Why do I get the feeling that you two aren't best buds?"

His answering grin was infectious. "Because you're smart." He returned the stone to his pocket and picked up the phone. "This is Straker. I'd like to speak to Jackson." He waited for a moment, then said, "Jackson? Are you ready for us? Good. We'll be right there."

He hung up and got to his feet. Cait stood as well, and he took her arm to lead her out of the office. But for a moment, he simply stood and smiled at her. The next few hours might prove him wrong. Cait might not end up being the enormous find he believed she was – for SHADO and for Earth. Either way, he knew how steep was the price he might have to pay for exposing her to the truth. But for this moment, he was glad she was here. And was pleased with her for so serenely handling the shock of having her world turned completely upside down on her. He envied her that Scottish pragmatism. She was such an incredible woman. He knew that – whatever tomorrow might bring – he would always consider it an honor to have known her love.

In silence, he led her from his office down the corridor to the Medical Centre. At one point, she turned to him and asked, "Ed? How did that homing device get into my house?"

Straker sighed. "That, Cait, is another story altogether."

She didn't know quite what she'd been expecting, but she was surprised to be introduced to a rather short man of wiry build who spoke with a distinct Eastern European accent.

"Cait, this is Dr. Doug Jackson," her husband said in a voice that tried to be bland. But her ears were already trained to the many nuances of his rich voice, and she caught the undercurrents. He continued, "Jackson, my wife. Cait."

"Hello," Cait said politely.

"Mrs. Straker," the doctor said with a small bow. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you."

As innocuous as those words were, they nonetheless caused her husband to stiffen beside her. Obviously, these two had a history, she thought. And probably a bloody one at that. It was a wonder they both still lived. But aloud she said, "How nice of you to say so."

The doctor acknowledged her polite disbelief with a tiny quirk of his lips. "Has the Commander explained what we would like to have you do for us?"

"Yes. I think so. You think I can help you with the alien devices."

He cocked his head slightly, raising a brow at her. "And what do you think, Mrs. Straker?"

Cait shrugged, unwilling to commit herself. "I'm willing to try, since my husband believes I can."

"And you are an obedient wife?" he asked softly.

She had the impression that he was deliberately goading her, but she didn't know why. Unless it was another barb aimed at Ed. She smiled, showing teeth. "I trust my husband's judgment."

"In all things?" he asked, sliding a glance in the commander's direction.

Ed stiffened further, and Cait decided she'd had enough. She stepped forward, folding her arms, and looked the doctor directly in the eye. "Absolutely."

Unexpectedly, Jackson's entire demeanor relaxed, and he gave her a blinding smile. "That is good. Very good. We'll begin by studying these items I've laid out on this table for you. Won't you come closer?" He turned to her husband and said with a small wave of his hand, "It is not necessary for you to remain, Commander. We would not want your wife to be distracted, now would we?"

His tone was just this side of insolent, but Cait was surprised when Ed didn't answer in kind. Instead, he ignored the doctor completely and turned to her.

"Cait," he said softly and took the hand she held out to him, looking into her eyes. "If you need me at any time . . ."

She grinned, thrilled that no matter how much of a mask he wore in this place, he was still her hero. "I'll be sure and holler," she assured him.

"Good," he said with a warm smile, then flicked a cold glance at the doctor before leaving the room.

Cait turned back to face the doctor once her husband was gone, her grey eyes measuring him. She wondered if he would continue to be sarcastic, but it seemed as if he reserved that behavior for Ed. He smiled benignly at her and gestured once more to the table.

"Shall we begin?" he asked calmly, and she nodded.

"Alright." She came forward and said, "What do you want me to do?"

"I'd like you to pick up these items one at a time and examine them," he said. "It doesn't matter what order you choose, but if you get any impressions or images from any of them, I would like you to tell me, and I will make note of it."

She looked at the table, surprised to find many mundane objects mixed in with several that didn't look at all familiar. "Okay," she said and picked one up at random.

Jackson was surprised that her first choice was a bland plastic cup from the hospital cafeteria. He watched her face as she lifted it and saw her wince before her features smoothed back out. After a few minutes, she opened her eyes and glanced at him.

"You felt something?" he asked quietly.

"Ed," she said, her voice softer than he had yet heard it.

He controlled his amazement that she would pick anything up from something plastic. "What impression do you get of him?"

"He's . . . sad. Thinking of his mother. And . . . Mary." Her eyes opened again and met his. "Mary?"

"Yes. Yes. Go on."

She obediently closed her eyes again, gently running a finger along the rim of the cup in unconscious imitation of her husband's actions that day in the hospital. Jackson had included the cup with the items on the table on a whim, but certainly had not believed that she would be able to receive any impression from it. It had been over three months since the commander had used it, after all.

"I don't know," she said eventually. "It's not clear what he's thinking. Something about being a failure . . . not being able to please her. He's so sad."

"You've done very well. When you first picked it up, you winced. Why was that?"

She looked at him. "Oh. He was furious." She turned the cup in her hands as she thought about it. "He'd thrown it – no. He'd thrown whatever it was sitting on – a saucer? a tray? I can't be certain – and wanted to hit someone." Her eyes widened. "You!" she said suddenly. "What did you do, Doctor? What did you do to make him so angry?"

Jackson sighed. "Mrs. Straker, the Commander is never an easy patient."

Cait blinked, remembering her husband's words to her that he wasn't easy to know. Well, if he was treated like that, she wasn't surprised that they found him difficult to comprehend. "Couldn't you have been a little more compassionate, Doctor?"

"Commander Straker would not receive compassion from me," he explained. "Does he respond to you when you offer it?"

"Yes."

"Then that is enough," he said cryptically.

She set the cup down and picked up a small snow globe. And immediately smiled. "Oh! He's so happy!" She caressed the sides of the globe, her eyes nearly shut as she listened to things from another moment in time. When she opened her eyes, she said, "You have a wonderful singing voice, Doctor. What a sweet lullaby!"

"Thank you," he said, embarrassed that she had somehow heard him sing.

"What's his name?"

"Whose?" he asked, although he knew who she meant.

"The boy who owns this snow globe."

"Jared."

She set the globe back on the table, but stroked it a moment longer. "He's young."

"He just turned five."

"He's a sweet boy. You must be very proud of him."

His throat wanted to close up. "I am."

Cait reached for a thin silver belt that lay coiled on the table, then almost collapsed as her fingers touched it, her knees buckling under her. She grabbed the table edge to keep herself from falling. "Oh!"

Dr. Jackson came forward swiftly to catch her, but she caught herself before she hit the floor. "Are you alright?"

Her lips trembled for a moment before she firmed them. "Yes. I'm okay. It was just so strong."

"You felt something?"

She nodded, standing up and leaning her weight on the table edge. She stared at the belt, but didn't touch it again. "Yes. He just wanted to go home. He didn't want to die here, in this horrible place. He wanted to be home."

"Can you see his home? Is there an image of it in your mind?"

"Yes. I could draw it for you. But it's more than just stone walls. It's the feeling of home. The . . . quiet . . . the silence. He liked it – no, he accepted it. Hmmm. He _preferred_ it that way. Alone. No distractions. No thoughts but his own."

She opened her eyes. "What does that mean? 'No thoughts but his own?'"

"The aliens have telepathic capabilities," he explained. "Perhaps he was referring to the other aliens' thoughts intruding on his."

"Oh, yes. That's right. Ed mentioned that. How awful that would be! To have everyone know what you're thinking. To have their thoughts shoving themselves inside your mind."

"Yet you have others' thoughts entering your mind all the time," he said quietly. "Do you find that distasteful?"

Cait frowned at him. "No, I don't. At least . . . I don't think I do. Ed mentioned that I'm not really even conscious of my ability, that it's instinctive more than anything else."

"Is that what you believe?"

She nodded. "I guess I've always just shut the images off when they get too overpowering. I've always assumed that it was just my imagination running away with me, and I needed to get a better handle on it. My mother used to worry about me when I was little. She even wanted to take me to a psychiatrist once, but my dad talked her out of it."

"What made her want to take you to a psychiatrist?"

She gave him a wry smile. "We were at the beach. I sat the entire afternoon in one spot holding a conch shell. She thought I was catatonic."

"What did you feel from the shell?"

"It's hard to put into words. They weren't even images really. Just impressions."

"Of what?"

"Life. Teeming, thriving, joyful life. It was lovely."

The last item on the table was a spoon. Cait laughed as she held it. "Strawberry custard. Yum!"

Jackson grinned. "It is my favorite."

She turned her laughing eyes to meet his. "You like slapstick!" she said in surprise.

His grin turned slightly embarrassed as he realized she could tell what he'd been watching on the television while he ate the custard. "Doesn't everyone?" he asked wryly.

She set the spoon back on the table and stepped back. "Well, I guess Ed was right. I really do have that ability. Psychometry. It's so weird that I never realized it before."

"Not so odd really," he assured her. "You were simply told it was something else."

"I suppose so."

"Why don't you try to get something from the pen again?" he asked.

She frowned at him. "But it didn't give me anything."

"I know. And I find that odd. Won't you try again?"

She picked it up. It was a simple ballpoint pen, silver on top, blue on the bottom. She closed her eyes and focused, but the most she could get was a vague wash of fuzz, like an old tv that had been left on after the stations went off the air. She opened her eyes and told him, "Nothing. Where did it come from? It doesn't look brand new."

He looked a bit grim. "It's not. It belongs to one of our medical technicians."

"Oh. Then I wonder why I'm not getting any impressions?"

"Yes," he said, his voice hard. "So too do I wonder."

Cait stared at him, somewhat concerned by this change in his demeanor. But then he smiled and cordially thanked her for participating in the test.

"I'm afraid that I was so caught up with your ability that I neglected to take any notes," he admitted ruefully as he looked at his empty clipboard. "However, I have taped this session, so I shall go over it later and make notes then. I should like to see your paintings as well, if I may."

"The paintings themselves? Or would photocopies do?"

He considered. "Well, on a purely aesthetic level, I should like to see the originals. But I suppose I can make do with photocopies for what I need to see. How soon can you get them to me?"

She shrugged. "Some of the paintings are at the gallery, so I'd need to go there to photograph them. By tomorrow? The next day, definitely, if I'm tied up here for the rest of today."

"That will be soon enough." He held out his hand. "Thank you, Mrs. Straker, for an enjoyable afternoon. I don't know when I've enjoyed testing anyone more."

She grinned and shook his hand. "Well, I'm just grateful it wasn't a tough test. Where am I supposed to go from here? Is Ed expecting me back in his office?"

"I believe so." He paused a moment,, then said, "Mrs. Straker. Cait. There are circumstances around your being brought here to our headquarters. Circumstances that your husband will eventually explain to you in greater detail. Please bear in mind that everyone involved acted out of the best interests for Earth and for what this organization does to protect it."

She stared at him, hearing something in his voice that made her worried about what Ed had yet to tell her. "I'm not sure I understand, Doctor."

He sighed and patted her hand. "You will," he assured her, then turned away to put away the things on the table.

Cait stood there a moment longer, wishing she actually could read minds. Then she left the Medical Centre and headed back to Ed's office.

**Chapter 7**

Straker was deep in a report on the latest computer upgrades for Moonbase when he felt her presence and looked up. She stood just at the door of his office, leaning against the jamb in a way that reminded him very much of her daughter. He smiled involuntarily. And wished for the hundredth time that he didn't have to tell her the truth about the past and his part in it. If he could just let her continue thinking he was someone kind, he thought their marriage might have a chance.

Then he sighed. It did no good to wish for what he couldn't have. And never should have had in the first place. In a way, he'd stolen these past months with her just as he'd stolen that evening all those years ago. And he doubted very much if she would ever forgive him for it.

"Won't you come in?" he asked quietly.

"Sure," she said and came over to the chair in front of his desk.

"How did the testing go?"

She shrugged as she sat down. "Not as bad as I was expecting. And I surprised myself a little. I guess I hadn't realized how many of my thoughts weren't really mine."

"It's a very rare gift, Cait," he said. "Your parents can be forgiven for not knowing what was actually going on when they thought you were making up stories."

"Oh, I don't blame them! I just wish I didn't feel like such a fool for not seeing it myself."

He gave her a soft smile. "How could you? It's so much a part of you that you wouldn't have realized that it was unusual in any way."

"You noticed."

"Well, I don't have that particular talent, so it was easier for me to see it in you.""

"I suppose. I think Dr. Jackson was as surprised as I was that I felt something from so many of the things he had set out. I ended up getting impressions from all of them but one."

Straker's brow raised. "That's very impressive. I look forward to reading his report."

"Ed, I want to help your organization fight these aliens. I really do. It's good that I seem to be able to pick up their thoughts so easily from their things."

"I'm hearing a very large 'but' coming."

She grinned at his perception. "Well, they're so hard. Cold, even, although that sounds odd to say when their planet is so hot. Antoine was right to think of them as inhabiting some sort of hell. They're cruel, Ed. Or maybe callous is a better word. They don't see us as human at all, just because we're not like them. I guess what I want to say is that I hope you won't need me to touch their things very often. I mean, I know it's why I'm here. But their thoughts are just so dark. It's not a pleasant place to be."

"Is that what you felt when you painted the images you got from them?"

She frowned. "Not really. It was different. Their perspective was skewed in a way I wasn't used to, and the novelty of that intrigued me. But now that I know who they are and where they're from, I don't think I could paint another of their landscapes. I see them too clearly and – I don't like them."

"I don't know if we'll need you to paint any more pictures of their world, Cait. It's possible. But the ones you've already done will keep our science teams busy for quite a while as it is. But what I'd like you to focus on, if you will, is writing down the things you've learned about them through contact with their devices. Any insight you give us could help tremendously."

"And their weapons?"

He sighed. "I'm sure Dr. Jackson will want you to help us figure out how they work. But whenever that's necessary, we'll try to keep it to a minimum for you. Just remember that we need your help, and that gives you the upper hand in dealing with him. Okay?"

She grinned. "I don't have that much trouble with him, actually. He's nicer to me than he is to you."

His answering smile was wry. "I'm glad to hear it."

"Ed? When are you going to tell me?"

"Tell you what?" he asked with a frown.

She folded her arms. "Whatever it is that you don't want to tell me."

He blinked. "Is it that obvious?"

"I can see it in your face, but then, I've gotten to know your expressions very well during these past months."

"Well, it doesn't hurt to have eyes that see more than the average person either," he said drily.

She grinned, accepting the compliment. "You're right. So? Does this have to do with how that device got into my house?"

He took a deep breath. "Yes. You see, you were involved in a UFO incident thirteen years ago."

"What?" Whatever she'd expected to hear, it hadn't been anything like that. "How is that possible? Seriously, Ed. I would hardly have forgotten something like that!"

"You were given an amnesia drug to make you forget it happened."

She jumped up from the chair in surprise. "Why? Good God! Why on earth would anyone do that?"

"Cait, there are only three options open to our organization when it comes to dealing with victims of UFO incursions. The first is the amnesia drug. It's necessary for security reasons. And for the well-being of the victims, when it comes right down to it. The psychological trauma alone can destroy a person's ability to ever lead a normal life again. However, there is a second alternative for those who qualify: recruitment into SHADO."

She frowned at him. "Like you're doing with me now."

"Yes. Actually, you would never have been considered as a viable candidate in the normal course of things. You're a civilian with no military or technical background."

She grimaced. "I suppose being an artist is a little far from what you'd be looking for." She paced the office for a moment. "Ed, these aliens are not only technologically advanced, but they're scary as hell too. How is it possible that I survived an encounter with them?"

He watched her pace. "You shot him."

She stopped, staring at him in shock. "Oh, my God! What happened?"

"He broke into your house and . . ."

"He was in my house? God, Ed! One of those creatures was in my _house!_"

"You handled the shock better that night than you are now," he said ruefully.

She looked surprised. "Really? Oh. Well, I didn't know quite what I was up against then, did I? I wouldn't have had a clue just how vicious they can be. He probably would have seemed like any other armed intruder to me."

"Possibly. Except that he was dressed in a spacesuit."

"There's that, I guess. I don't know. I think it would still have been a lot to deal with afterward. I'm pretty much a sissy when it comes to anything violent. Even a vivid nightmare can shake me up for days."

"You should give yourself more credit," he said quietly. "You not only defended yourself admirably that night, but years later you managed to turn that nightmare into a powerful painting."

She stared at him in shock. "'Technicolor Nightmare!' Of course! And you knew . . . !"

"Yes. I knew. There was some concern that you might be remembering what had happened."

"Would you have given me another shot of that stuff?"

"That was one possible course of action. However, finding out about your unique talent has changed everything, and suddenly you have become a very desirable recruiting choice indeed. It's a pity we weren't aware of your gift when the incident first occurred. The situation might have gone very differently. For both of us."

She gazed at him, hearing something in his tone that warned her that the story wasn't over yet. She leaned forward. "So, you and I have met before."

"Yes."

She shook her head, smiling ruefully. "No wonder you seemed so familiar to me! And here I was thinking it was just because you and Shannon . . ." She stopped suddenly and met his eyes in shock. "Thirteen years ago?"

He swallowed. "Yes."

Once more she shook her head, only this time more vigorously. "No! Oh, no! That's not possible! Ed!" Tears sprang to her eyes. "You – ! We – ! Tell me you didn't . . . ! You wouldn't have!" But she could see from his expression that it was true. "How? How could you do that? _Why_ would you?"

"Cait, listen to me. Let me explain."

She leapt up from the chair again, striding back and forth around the office like a caged animal. "God, Ed! Please! You had sex with me, then made me forget it ever happened? What's to explain?"

He closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them to gaze bleakly at her. "You're right. What I did was reprehensible. There's no excuse for it. I won't insult you by offering one."

"How could you take away my memory of it, Ed? My God! Do you have any idea how traumatized I was when I found out I was pregnant? I didn't want to get married – and certainly not to Seamus! He was fine for a date or even a lover, but as a husband? A father? I just couldn't see it."

"Cait, I'm sorry."

She rounded on him. "It's all been for nothing! My whole married life! Eleven years! Eleven years I put up with that man, trying to do the right thing for my daughter. I put up with his lies and his cheating as long as I could. And even these past two years after I'd had enough and threw him out, I've tried to be civil with him. Even when he couldn't be bothered to be civil back! All so that Shannon wouldn't think poorly of her father. And he wasn't! My God, Ed! How could you let me believe a lie all these years? _Why_ would you?"

He ran a hand over his face. "I didn't know you were pregnant. It simply didn't cross my mind that there might be complications from that night."

"You had no right to make me forget!"

"I had no _choice!_"

She stared at him in distress. It was more unnerving for her to learn that he was capable of such thoughtless cruelty than it had been to learn that aliens were attacking Earth. Suddenly, she remembered him telling her that he had done things before that he regretted, but had been forced to do. Could he have been speaking of this? Her outrage quieted somewhat, and she sat again, her hands fisted together tightly in her lap. "There's always a choice, Ed," she said sternly.

"You're right," he agreed. "Forgive me if the other choice was one I couldn't live with."

Cait frowned. "I don't understand."

He sighed deeply. "The third option, Cait. When dealing with UFO victims, I told you there were only three choices. I gave you the first two. Aren't you curious what the third one is?"

She hardly thought it would make any difference at this point, but she asked anyway. "What is it?"

"Death."

She gasped. "You can't be serious!"

"Do you think we're playing games here, Cait? This is a multi-billion dollar global undercover organization, unknown to anyone in the outside world but a handful of political leaders whose countries have enough firepower to actually be of any help to us. We're facing an extra-terrestrial threat terrifying enough to cause mass hysteria and panic throughout our cities if the truth was even hinted at on any media level. We can't just let people walk around with this knowledge. Too much is at stake."

She hadn't thought about it. With everything else that had been thrown at her since coming here this morning, she hadn't caught on that a top secret military installation like this meant that security was a very real issue. And would certainly be taken extremely seriously. She met his eyes, still torn up to realize that so much of her life had been wasted, had been a lie that no one had bothered to set right. But she could clearly see his regret that the situation had resolved itself that way, and she could hardly blame him for the choices she had made, after all. Even though she wouldn't have made them if she'd known the truth. Looking at him closely, she also could see that behind the regret he felt was his determination to do his job, no matter what it might end up costing him on a personal level. It made her realize that he might have avoided this confrontation – one where he would hardly come out looking like a hero – simply by not bringing her in today. By not telling SHADO about her gift or giving them a chance to finally begin to understand the enemy they were fighting. But he wouldn't do that. Couldn't do that. Because of the man that he was. Not perfect. No. But dedicated. Committed to the safety of Earth above all else – even his own happiness. She thought suddenly about his failed first marriage and began to recognize the extent of some of the sacrifices he had made over the years as Commander of SHADO.

"Alright," she said finally. "I get that. And I'm glad that you didn't choose death for me. But can you please tell me why you had sex with me when you knew that you'd have to make me forget it afterward?"

He shook his head wearily. "It wasn't like that, Cait. I didn't go there planning to spend the night with you. I went because . . ."

"Yes?" she asked when he trailed off.

"I was already half in love with you, although I didn't know it at the time," he said unexpectedly.

"How is that possible?"

He gestured to the mural behind him. "I had bought one of your light murals for this office. It spoke to me of such peace when I saw it at the gallery, and peace was a commodity I desperately needed at the time. I hoped that the mural's soothing influence might help me get through the tough days here at HQ."

She smiled slightly in spite of herself. "And did it?"

"Yes. Oh, yes. Very much so. I can't begin to tell you the difference it made to have it there! It got to the point where I felt that I could handle any crisis if I could just sit at my desk and let the serenity of the mural work its way through me. So when you were involved in the UFO incident, I wanted to meet you. To thank you for what you'd given me."

"Oh, Ed."

He grimaced. "Foolish, I know. I shouldn't have gone. I don't know what I expected you to be like. I certainly didn't expect you to be even more wonderful than your mural. You captivated me. We talked long into the night, and I would have been happy to stay there chatting with you until dawn. I'd never met anyone who understood me so easily – and still liked who I was. Even my best friend had times when he didn't like me very well. But you just accepted me. I have no words for what that meant to me.

"I don't know how we ended up in each other's arms, Cait. It just happened. It shouldn't have. I was fairly certain that you weren't recruitable material for the organization, and I knew I was going to have to administer the amnesia drug. But I wasn't thinking about any of that at the time. I wasn't thinking at all, to tell you the truth." He paused, then said, "Do you remember telling me how you felt so much so quickly when we met?"

"Yes. Although I didn't know then that we'd actually met before."

"But even so, it was quick, wasn't it? And strong? Almost overwhelming?"

"Yes." She sighed. "I guess I can understand how it was for you that night. But was there really no other way, Ed, than to make me forget you? No idea, no matter how unusual, that might have allowed us to be together?"

"I tried. I spent the rest of the night trying to think of something. But even if I'd run off with you to some remote island, abandoning my job and my family, they'd have found us. There was only so far we could run before security tracked us down. And they would have killed us then, both of us and whatever children we'd had during the time we eluded them. That wasn't a future I wanted for you. It simply wasn't a viable option. Amnesia was better. At least you would have a life."

She grimaced. "Some life!" After a moment, she asked, "And what about you?"

He sighed. "I had the memory of you. It wasn't what I wanted, but it was better than nothing at all. I finally knew what love was. And I'd finally had someone's love in return. It was enough. I made it be enough."

"And it never occurred to you to 'accidentally' bump into me later?"

His lips quirked. "Oh, I had dozens of scenarios all worked out in my head! Hundreds! I knew when I left your house that night that I was going to have to get a divorce. How could I stay with someone who didn't even have a clue who I was when I could have someone who instinctively knew me almost as well as I knew myself? But it didn't work out that way. She had already left. When I got home from Scotland, she'd gone and left the divorce papers for me to sign. But even then, it wasn't a simple matter. She managed to drag it out, making it a nasty custody battle that lasted months. By the time it was all over and my life was my own once more, I was determined to 'run' into you again. But by then . . ."

Cait gave a deep sigh. "I had married Seamus."

"Yes." He met her eyes. "Cait, if I'd known – if it had ever occurred to me that you might be pregnant and had married just to give your child a father, nothing would have stopped me from coming to you! I wouldn't have cared at all that you were already married. I would have come to you. I don't know what I would have told you to account for the fact that you didn't remember our night together. But I would have thought of something, I promise you!"

"But you didn't."

"I didn't know."

"No, Ed. I mean that day I came to you after Seamus got those test results. I was so messed up. Why couldn't you have made up a story then? Something so that I wasn't left so torn apart by it all?"

"Cait, I wanted to tell you everything that day. The whole truth. I couldn't bear to see you so upset!"

"Then why didn't you?"

"You know why."

"Security!" she sneered.

"Yes. Security. They'd have silenced you, Cait. And how would that have helped you?"

"So you just let me be devastated. Should I thank you for it?"

"I did what I could," he said quietly.

She frowned. "What do you mean?"

He swallowed. "I comforted you the only way I could. The only way I was allowed. Without words."

And suddenly she remembered how tender he had been that day, his caresses brushing away her distress and making her feel as if her world had not come to an end after all. And later, when he had teased her to marry him . . .

"You were trying to make it right, weren't you?" she asked him. "When you proposed, you were trying to fix the problem you'd created."

"Yes."

"Is that what this marriage is to you, Ed? A bandaid for your 'oops?'"

His lips tightened. "You know better than that!"

"I don't, Ed. That's just it. You've lied to me so much that I don't know what is real and what isn't!"

"I've never lied to you!" he gasped.

"Ed, everything's been a lie! Don't you see that? From the moment we met again at the gallery, you've been lying to me by not telling me that we already had a history. You let me fumble my way along, never knowing why my feelings were so strong for you."

"Cait! That's not how it was!"

"Then how was it, Ed? Why were you at the gallery that day? Was it really fate? Or did you plan it all out beforehand?"

"You can't be serious!" he said tersely. "I was terrified of meeting you again! I couldn't face you! I'd betrayed you in a way I could never atone for, never make right, no matter what I did. What would I ever say to you?"

She swallowed the lump in her throat that his words brought. "You – seemed to do alright when we met."

"I . . . God, you were so lovely! It was just so incredible to see you again, to talk to you! I'd dreamt of you for so long – and there you were! It was all I could do not to run off with you right there and then!"

But she shook her head. "Ed, I'm a nobody. Barely even pretty. I couldn't even keep my husband's interest for long! Come on! I'm not the kind of girl men remember, let alone run off with!"

He stared at her as if she was speaking a foreign language. "Cait! You're the most beautiful woman I've ever known!"

"I'm not!" she denied. "I'm an artist. I see myself very clearly, Ed, and I know I'm not!"

"You're amazing!" he assured her. "I adore everything about you! Your kindness, your wisdom, your marvelous common sense!"

She choked. "Oh, Ed! How could you love my common sense?"

"You have no idea!" he said fiercely, his blue eyes burning into hers. "I've never known anyone like you. Every day – every day you amaze me! I know I should have just walked away when I saw you there at the gallery, especially since I couldn't ever tell you about our shared past. But it was one night, Cait! And although it had changed my life, I certainly didn't think it had changed yours. I wanted to try again – see if maybe you might like me enough to want to get to know me again. I didn't know about Shannon! I didn't know any of that! I only knew that you were as wonderful as I remembered you – and I wanted another chance."

There were tears in her eyes. "I thought you were wonderful too," she said softly, recalling how surprised she had been by his sweetness, his solicitude, his tenderness as the days went by. "Ed, I don't know what to do about all this. It's all so messed up in my head, and the main thing I feel right now is hurt."

"What can I do to make it better for you?" he asked. "Do you need time alone? To go back to Scotland for a while and think it over? You can do that. You've already helped us enough that you could take a break while we work with what you've already shown us."

"I wasn't thinking about SHADO, Ed," she said drily.

"I know. But you have to now, Cait. You can walk away from me, and I'll understand. I pretty much expect it actually. But you're not going to be able to walk away from SHADO. I'm sorry, but it's a commitment you're stuck with for good now. But if you eventually find that you don't want to return to England – or me – there are research centers in Scotland that you could work at instead. We're global, remember? You don't have to come back to HQ."

"And what about you?" she asked.

He gave her a ghost of his usual sweet smile. "I still have the memory of you. And your mural to get me through my days. I'll be alright. Just . . ."

"What?"

He ran a hand over his face. "Would it be alright if Shannon still came on the weekends and worked at the studio? If she wants to continue to do that, of course. But I'll pay for her travel expenses, even send the limo for her if she'd like that."

"God, Ed!" she said, getting up to pace once more.

"I'll understand if you don't want her to be around me any more, Cait. I just thought I'd let you know that she's welcome."

She turned to him, her arms around herself for comfort and tears running down her face. "Listen to yourself! Do you have any idea what you're doing to me?"

He watched her pace in silence for a while. "I'm sorry, Cait. What do you want me to say?"

She rubbed the backs of her hands against her eyes. "I don't want you to say anything, Ed. You've already said enough."

He bit his lip, holding in the flood of words he wanted to say, the begging he wanted to do to make her stay with him. It would do no good, he knew. He had nothing she wanted any longer – except her freedom.

After a few minutes, she came back to the desk and met his eyes. "You would do that, wouldn't you?" she asked. "You would let me go and maybe not come back. You'd set things up to be a weekend Dad to Shannon. Let me work at some research center where I never had to see you again. You'd do that."

"Yes."

"Well, I don't want to," she said. "I don't want to go."

"You – don't?"

She shook her head.

Hope leapt painfully into his heart, but he squashed it firmly. He needed to be able to concentrate. "What do you want, Cait?"

She looked directly into his eyes. "I want your promise that you won't ever lie to me again."

He almost gave it – in fact, he opened his mouth to say the words. But he knew it was a promise he would not be able to keep. There would always be things as Commander that he wouldn't be free to share with her, even though she worked for him. His blue eyes were full of sorrow when he said, "I'm sorry, Cait. I can't promise that. My job requires . . ."

"Okay," she interrupted. "I can accept that. But everything else, Ed. No more secrets."

He stared at her. It couldn't be that simple. Surely it wasn't that simple to get her to stay? "Of course! I don't want to keep secrets from you, Cait! For one thing, you'd see right through them. You're so observant. But more than that, I _want_ you to know me. I don't want to hide anything from you."

She gave him a watery smile. "Then can we go home now? Because I want to make up with you, and I don't want to do it in your office."

"Cait . . . !" He couldn't move from his chair, stunned into immobility by her words. She wasn't going to leave. To abandon him. Unlike every other woman he had ever counted on, she intended to stay. "Cait!"

She held out a hand. "Coming? I could handle this myself, but they say sex is better with two."

His lips twitched and he got to his feet, coming around the desk to take her hand. "I can't – I'll make it up to you, Cait. I swear it. You won't regret staying with me."

"No. I won't regret it," she said. "And I'm counting on you making it up to me. Starting as soon as we get home."

He grinned. "I wasn't talking about sex, Cait!"

"I was," she told him as she led him to the door, her grey eyes twinkling. She glanced back at the mural as they left the office and asked, "Ed? One thing you didn't explain. What happened to the first mural? To 'Contemplation?'"

His expression turned rueful as he said, "Why don't we save that story for another day?"


End file.
